“The Challenge: Vendettas”- Finale

Lackluster events recounted

Welcome back the to final episode of “The Challenge: Vendettas”! It has been a prolonged, dissatisfying season. From the beginning of “The Challenge: Dirty Thirty” to now, “The Challenge” has changed their approach to production and it is not a desired effect. Instead of airing the final part of “The Finale” during the last episode, MTV made sure to milk the suspense for as long as possible, not announcing the winners (and losers) of the season until the end of a two part reunion. It was just wholly unnecessary and we are definitely approaching trashy reality TV territory.

Traditionally? I love a good reunion episode. We get the chance to catch up with the cast, see unshown footage and see them hash out any lingering animosity. However, with the way it was set up, what I really got was a combined 50 minutes of drama, an hour’s worth of commercials and The Miz…for whatever reason. And as much as I love watching adults ranging from their twenties to fifties arguing about pizza, it would have been even better if we known the winners. #PizzaGate struck again as the “Miz” questioned the validity of the altercation. It seemed that post-episode, everyone was actually on Marie’s side. As you may remember from episode four, Brad and Marie argued over pizza, greed and alimony when Brad confronted her about putting boxes of pizza in her room while other houseguests were outside. Long story short, she put the boxes aside for her roommates, but then ultimately decided to throw the boxes on Brad as he had sexual intercourse with Britni in his bed.

Moving on from that palpitating drama, there was much more in store! Devin and Johnny ‘Bananas’ went at each other, and this time, Devin received cheers whilst Johnny received jeers; the audience literally laughed in his face. The tides have turned and Bananas is without a paddle. His reign may be over, but even though he is less of a competitor, he is still remaining true to his ‘character’. Character meaning a manipulative piece of shit that still won’t admit to kissing Kayleigh. Brad and Zach also had some Twitter beef that was just so scalding it HAD to be premiered on national television, of course. The most surprising drama of the night, in my eyes, was the attempt to discredit Cara Maria. She, Zach, Kyle, and Kailah were the four that made it the final, yet a few cast members, namely Nicole and Nelson, felt Cara got a free pass. Nicole said that Cara has yet to prove herself as a strong competitor, while Nelson felt she should have met an elimination. These statements are very strange as Cara is one of the best ranked players in the line up. She has won 12/17 eliminations, gotten to four finals and won two seasons, including a Champs spin-off. Trashing her for not getting voted into an elimination is ridiculous as Cara is one of the more humble challengers. The mercenaries also weighed in with their opinions. Jordan had been dropping loads off and much to my dismay, he kept going. He joined in on the Cara sucks bandwagon. Then fellow mercenary, Derek, brought the most heat I have seen in the last couple of week to defend Cara.

Finally, near the final seven minutes of the second part of the reunion episode, we were shown part two of “The Finale.” It was a color puzzle, and the order completed determined the winners of “The Challenge: Vendettas.” It was a genderless competition, for the first time in Challenge history, and a woman won! It had definitely been a male dominated season, especially when it concerned the Troika so that was a blessing. The bigger blessing? MTV’s sweetheart, Cara Maria, is the winner of “The Challenge: Vendettas”! From being bullied on her first Challenge season to being a (mostly) respected well-rounded, solo champion! It’s almost heartwarming.
Pulling up in second place was Zach, followed by Kyle, with Kailah coming in fourth place by default. She did not actually finish the puzzle, which got people disqualified from receiving money in the past. However it seems MTV has new rules now. Let us hope that they get the new views that they are vying for.